A conventional passenger aircraft includes one or more ventilated cavities that are not pressurized during flight. One typical ventilated cavity resides within the wing-to-body fairing that forms a blended aerodynamic surface between the fuselage and wing. These wing-to-body fairings are typically ventilated with air scoops or air inlets to remove air that could possibly contain fuel vapors. Another typical ventilated cavity is an enclosure for a heat exchanger of environmental control systems on the aircraft.
As the speed of the aircraft increases, the air flow through these ventilated cavities increases with a fixed area air scoop. This increased air flow causes excess noise in the cabin of the aircraft and can increase the aerodynamic drag on the aircraft. One solution for decreasing this excess noise and drag is to modulate the area of the air scoop. Such modulation is typically accomplished with use of electronic actuators and sensors to actively manage the area of the air scoop. These actively managed air scoops have the disadvantage of requiring additional electronic components and adding complexity to the aircraft.
As such, it is desirable to provide air scoop systems with modulating areas that have reduced management complexity. In addition, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.